Descended from a long line of doughty warriors and statesman, William Prince of Orange was born in The Hague during November 1650, son of a Dutch father and a Scottish Stuart princess, eldest daughter of Charles II. Banned at first from succeeding to his hereditary offices by the act of seclusion, William's boyhood was rather lonely. His early life was bounded by the Anglo-Dutch naval wars during Cromwell's protectorate and after the restoration of Charles II. Acquiring his first military experience during the invasion of Holland by King Louis XIV in 1672, he revealed qualities of heroism and patriotism and refused to submit to the might of France. He was above all, a European, having an intimate knowledge of her various peoples.